Watch Newcastle United’s Park Seung-soo grab stunning assist in Mansfield Town win
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Newcastle United news: Park Seung-soo grabbed a stunning assist as Newcastle United Under-21’s beat Mansfield Town in the Vertu Trophy.
Newcastle United Under-21’s kept their hopes of qualifying for the next round of the Vertu Trophy alive with a penalty shootout victory over Mansfield Town on Wednesday night. Goals from Cathal Heffernan and an own goal from Stags goalkeeper Ollie Taylor forced the match into a shootout, before a flawless five kicks from the Magpies ensured a 5-3 win from the spot.
The Magpies opened the scoring inside five minutes when Heffernan plunged on a loose ball in the area to stab home from close range. That early goal was cancelled out by Max Dickov 20 minutes later as he equalised past James Taylor in the Magpies goal.
Midway through the second half and the hosts had taken the lead for the first time when Finn Flanagan added a second for his side. That seemed like being enough for the hosts to claim all three points - that is until a bit of magic by Park Seung-soo.
The former Suwon Bluewings man was caught on the left wing and with seemingly very few options ahead of him, however, he managed to stab a perfectly precise pass into the path of Charlie McArthur whose cross was turned into his own net by the Mansfield Town keeper.
It was a brilliant moment from Park - but one that won’t come as a surprise to many who watched him in action for the senior side during pre-season. The young South Korean winger managed to steal the show from the substitutes bench whilst back in the Far East with Eddie Howe’s side, just weeks after his move to Tyneside was confirmed.
Charlie McArthur reacts to Newcastle United U21’s win v Mansfield Town
After setting up an equalising goal, McArthur then netted the winning penalty for his side and spoke to the club’s website post-match: “I think we deserved it.
“In the second-half, we came into the game and showed the kind of team we are. We were playing well, especially against a good side in League One, backed ourselves from the start and ended up getting a decent result.
“Going one-nil up settled the nerves and helped us to build from there. We stuck in for the first-half and we did well to go into the break level and we played well in the second-half.
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“The boys dug deep. We conceded from a silly set play, which we could have done better with, but we showed the character to come back and showed the quality we have in the team.
On the penalty shootout, McArthur added: “The boys back ourselves on penalties.
“We stuck to what we've been practicing in training and managed to walk away with an extra point. It was a good feeling to score the winning penalty. It's always good to score a goal, especially a penalty.
“Whichever team you play, the mentality is always trying to win. Harrogate will be a tough game but we back ourselves to do that.”
That penalty shootout victory earned them a bonus point and means that Adam Lawrence’s side can still qualify for the knockout stages of the competition, although they do need to win their final match against Harrogate Town and hope that Mansfield Town defeat Huddersfield Town to progress.